Chris Packham is a mate of mine – although he’s not very matey really. But he’s also a colleague and he’s a great guy. He’s had a lot of flak in the media and social media since we, that’s Chris, Ruth Tingay and myself, Wild Justice, won a legal challenge against the system of General…
Tag: Natural England
Magpies and the RSPB
There is a lot made of the fact that the RSPB carries out lethal control of Carrion Crows, formerly under the revoked General Licence GL04, on a very small proportion of RSPB nature reserves (15 out of 218). Because this is a highly emotive issue the RSPB is attacked by those who wish the RSPB…
Guest blog – Ramridge Raiders part 1 by Paul Sterry and Rob Read
Paul Sterry. Rob Read. Authors and photographers, Paul and Rob spearhead the international competition Bird Photographer of the Year (BPOTY) whose lead judge is Chris Packham. Spring in Ramridge Copse. Photo: Rob Read. Rob lives in the quaintly-named Hampshire village of Ragged Appleshaw and one of his local patches is nearby Ramridge Copse, an extensive…
NE plans for licensing of bird-killing represent massive change of emphasis.
Where is NE heading with the licensing of bird-killing under General Licences? It’s difficult to tell, and we’ll have to see. However, the claim that it will all be business as usual already looks unlikely to be true. Charlotte Smith: will it be harder to get a licence? Marian Spain, Natural England: it shouldn’t be…
What Wild Justice says about the General Licence issue
The Natural England decision to revoke the long-standing General Licences came out of the blue for Chris Packham, Ruth Tingay and me (the three co-directors of the not for profit company, Wild Justice) as it did for everyone else. We had no warning of what they were going to announce beforehand (which I think was…
Bird notes
Following the success of the Wild Justice legal challenge over the General Licensing system that Natural England has operated, there has been an outpouring of abuse towards anybody to do with this case (and some who have had nothing to do with it) in the press and on social media. But some of the same…
Songbird Science
Songbirds and science The following blog is based partly on the witness statement from Wild Justice (passages in red) which was part of the claim issued to the court on 21 March (and emailed to Natural England although they will not have had a formal sealed document for some time after that due to court…
Non-news: I know Tony Juniper!
Today’s Daily Telegraph has a bit of a go at Tony Juniper for knowing me… It has emerged that Mr Juniper has close links with the group’s [Wild Justice’s] co-founder, former RSPB conservation director Mark Avery. The pair appear to go back a long way. Two years ago, Mr Juniper collaborated on behind More Binoculars,…
Pigeon Pie and the General Licences
Woodpigeon. Photo: Tim Melling Let us take Woodpigeon as an example. Under what circumstances do Woodpigeons cause serious damage to crops – and what constitutes serious damage? And which crops can be seriously damaged by Woodpigeons at which times of year? How is the shooting of Woodpigeons solely for food consumption legal – we suspect…
NE start to talk
On Farming Today, Marian Spain, the interim Chief Exec of Natural England starts to talk about what the new system of licensing to cover the 16 species on the former General Licences will look like. Marian is quite clear that ‘the licences were unlawful’. Wild Justice will be looking at the new system of licensing…